All posts tagged Explorer

Ford said today its new Explorer SUV with a gas-saving EcoBoost engine has a fuel-economy rating of 20 miles per gallon in city driving and 28 mpg on the highway. The car maker said those numbers make it the most fuel-efficient seven-passenger SUV on the market.

Well, sort of.

When Ford says the Explorer with EcoBoost has class-leading fuel economy it is talking about the class of gasoline-powered SUVs, not hybrid vehicles like the Toyota Highlander hybrid, which has a rating of 28 mpg in both city and highway driving.

I have never been a fan of the Ford Explorer. From the time it reached showrooms in 1990 the mid-size SUV struck me as a parts-bin special — the automotive equivalent of stone soup, only less satisfying. And it was. Ford designers and engineers based the Explorer on the small Ranger pickup and slapped it together as cheaply as possible while still keeping the whole thing presentable.

The final product went way beyond presentable and was a top seller for the next two decades. But I would have never considered buying one until now.

Before Ford unveiled its 2011 Explorer I doubted the new SUV would be anything special. After all, Ford has been tweaking the truck for 20 years, so what new things could be left to try?

Turns out this could be one of those rare redesigns that is more like a rebirth, mainly because of what Ford has done with the interior. The Explorer’s cabin, from the smooth feel of the door handles to the attractive colors and sharp graphics on its central display screen, shows attention to detail found in some luxury cars, but never in a Ford truck.

Ford unveiled its redesigned Explorer SUV this morning in New York’s Herald Square. The new vehicle, which borrows design cues from Ford’s former Land Rover unit, represents the biggest change by far in Ford’s approach to its bread-and-butter family hauler and onetime sales superstar.Company officials say the new Explorer reflects CEO Alan Mulally’s philosophy of developing a broader range of vehicles that can be tailored closely to what customers want. In some ways the Explorer also seeks to appeal to a wider audience than ever before.

The last thing Ford Motor Co. wants you to think about when you get the behind the wheel of its new Explorer is rollovers.

Plagued a decade ago by fatal rollovers associated with its Firestone tires, Ford is trotting out a new Explorer model to be unveiled officially in July. So the auto maker is loading it down with extra safety features, including the industry’s first inflatable seat belt for rear passengers.

On Monday, executives appeared before reporters at Ford’s test track in Dearborn, Mich. to trumpet another feature designed to alleviate rollover anxiety called “curve control.”